Ask HN: Best books on managing software complexity? ↗

The books people recommended

2022-02-06 · 253 points · 124 comments · 30 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

9A Philosophy of Software Design
A Philosophy of Software Design
John Ousterhout
9 here · 42 all-time · #116 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,832 ratings on Amazon
3Working Effectively with Legacy Code
Working Effectively with Legacy Code
Michael Feathers
3 here · 41 all-time · #122 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 739 ratings on Amazon
3
An Elegant Puzzle
Will Larson
3 here · 20 all-time · #325 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,414 ratings on Amazon
3Domain Modeling Made Functional
Domain Modeling Made Functional
Scott Wlaschin
3 here · 12 all-time · #549 overall
Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 357 ratings on Amazon
3The Principles of Product Development Flow
The Principles of Product Development Flow
Donald G. Reinertsen
3 here · 9 all-time · #751 overall
3Software Engineering at Google
Software Engineering at Google
3 here · 9 all-time · #770 overall
3Software Design for Flexibility
Software Design for Flexibility
Gerald Jay Sussman
3 here · 8 all-time · #895 overall
3Grokking Simplicity
Grokking Simplicity
Eric Normand
3 here · 4 all-time · #1908 overall
2
The Mythical Man-Month
Frederick Brooks Jr.
2 here · 137 all-time · #13 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,811 ratings on Amazon
2
Design Patterns
Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides
2 here · 80 all-time · #42 overall
Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 27 ratings on Amazon
2Data-Oriented Programming
Data-Oriented Programming
Yehonathan Sharvit
2 here · 27 all-time · #217 overall
Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 34 ratings on Amazon
2Clean Architecture
Clean Architecture
Robert C. Martin
2 here · 7 all-time · #1021 overall
2Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering
Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering
Robert L. Glass
2 here · 5 all-time · #1357 overall
2Out of the Tar Pit
Out of the Tar Pit
Moseley and Marks
2 here · 4 all-time · #1758 overall
1
The Pragmatic Programmer
Andrew Hunt and David Thomas
1 here · 102 all-time · #26 overall
Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 3,644 ratings on Amazon
1The Goal
The Goal
Eliyahu M. Goldratt
1 here · 70 all-time · #49 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,661 ratings on Amazon
1
The Phoenix Project
Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford
1 here · 67 all-time · #56 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 14,975 ratings on Amazon
1
Turn the Ship Around
L. David Marquet
1 here · 22 all-time · #280 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 8,318 ratings on Amazon
1
Domain Driven Design
Eric Evans
1 here · 21 all-time · #289 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,578 ratings on Amazon
1
How to Design Programs
Matthias Felleisen
1 here · 21 all-time · #299 overall
Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 97 ratings on Amazon
1The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Jane Jacobs
1 here · 15 all-time · #434 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,700 ratings on Amazon
1About Face
About Face
Alan Cooper
1 here · 13 all-time · #509 overall
Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 485 ratings on Amazon
1Out of the Crisis
Out of the Crisis
W. Edwards Deming
1 here · 10 all-time · #629 overall
Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 549 ratings on Amazon
1The DevOps Handbook
The DevOps Handbook
Gene Kim, Jez Humble, Patrick Debois
1 here · 7 all-time · #956 overall
1Making Software
Making Software
Oram and Wilson
1 here · 4 all-time · #1589 overall
1Object Thinking
Object Thinking
David West
1 here · 4 all-time · #1782 overall
1Google SRE Book
Google SRE Book
1 here · 3 all-time · #2087 overall
1A New Economics
A New Economics
W. Edwards Deming
1 here · 3 all-time · #2088 overall
1Software Fundamentals
Software Fundamentals
David Parnas
1 here · 3 all-time · #2120 overall
1No Silver Bullet
No Silver Bullet
Frederick Brooks
1 here · 3 all-time · #2462 overall